It was a design challenge: seven professional designers, a master bedroom in a 1970s Westerville home, and the ambitious goal of a complete makeover with a $1,000 budget. And the job would be completed in one day.

When they were finished, it was a success, and owners Nick and Jennifer Nesbitt were happy with the results, regardless that more is to be done and that the designers actually spent $1,492. However, it is still far less than an overhaul would have cost without sharp-eyed shopping and decorating.

Six Central Ohio designers with Décor & You franchises enlisted Joanne Lenart-Weary, a professional instructor and TV personality on the Home & Garden Network, for training in low-cost redecorating, which is becoming increasingly popular in today’s economy.

As part of the training, the designers did three projects in three days, and the Nesbitt room was the last to tackle. One cost benefit to the owners was free design service since it was a training project.

“You walk into a room and you don’t know what you’re going to do. Then you start brainstorming and it comes together,” explains Liz Jacob, with the Upper Arlington-Grandview area franchise of Décor & You.

But the designers didn’t start totally cold. Some saw the room, met with the owners and asked them for four words describing what they wanted the room to be.

“Cheerful, bright, useful (and) relaxing,” Jennifer told them.

On a shopping trip before the project started, the designers found bedding – yellow and gray – they felt would fit the bill and selected matching gray paint for the walls. According to Colleen A. Lora, whose franchise territory includes Westerville, “Yellow is one of the hottest trends right now.”

As they met at 8 a.m. Aug. 20 in the Nesbitt home, they discussed what else needed to be changed, what existing furniture would be used, what would be added and how they would finish decorating touches. Brian Adkins of On A Roll Painting in Worthington was also on the job, working on the walls and woodwork.

It took only a short time to see that the wall paint wasn’t a good match and Lenart-Weary and another decorator bought more. It was then decided that repainting the aluminum-louvered closet doors, one of which was off its track, was not worth the time, effort or additional labor cost. Besides, the Nesbitts plan to replace all such doors throughout the home as they continue to upgrade. The design team also decided against replacing the dated, deep blue carpet.

Many changes did happen, included moving the queen bed on the opposite side of the room between two windows, painting an oak dresser and chest of drawers white and placing them differently and adding some lamp tables and a chair.

“I like what a chair adds to the ambience,” Lenart-Weary says. And placing a large neutral color throw rug over the carpet would neutralize its impact, making it a temporary solution until the carpet is replaced.

After the planning session, the designers headed for various stores with ample but reasonably priced items for a home to fit into their tight budget. Home Goods, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Linens & Things and Target were among the stores they thought they might visit if necessary.

They returned with all they needed and more and urgently began making decorating pieces and painting the furniture that Jennifer had in college. They created a headboard by stapling material nearly identical to the bedding to two pieces of canvas normally used for painting. They glued splotches of matching material to white curtains and also hung gray curtain rods.

They spray-painted the dresser – after removing the large wood framed mirror that wasn’t consistent with their theme – and the chest of drawers and applied a silver-gray paint to the hardware of each.

“It’s a lot cheaper than getting new (furniture),” Lora says.

In came modern glass lamp tables and yellow lamps with complementary shades. A gray chair found a home in one corner. Placed in various spots, including under the chair, were cloth-covered storage bins that also matched the bedspread.

“It was just a fluke,” Lora says about finding nearly-identical materials in three different stores. She happily notes that an attractive white pedestal beside the chair was just $7.

It eventually become obvious $1,000 wasn’t enough to do “a project of this scope,” Lenart-Weary says. They got the Nesbitt’s approval to go slightly over budget with the understanding they did not have to keep any items they didn’t like. And the designers couldn’t get done by 6 p.m., their own deadline, because of all the craftwork and finishing touches, such as hanging curtain rods and pictures.

The Nesbitts saw the room and its contents after 7 p.m. that day.

“The room really looks great,” Jennifer says of the completed project. “My hard-to-please husband was pleased, which is good.”

The design was entirely up to the design team, Jennifer explains, but they did take into account certain things she wanted.

“Yellow is my favorite color. I love all things yellow. My husband told me I could have one yellow room in the house,” she says.

Looking ahead, the Nesbitts have picked the louvered doors they will install as they upgrade the home (they bought the house two years ago from the original owner). As for the furniture that was added, “I don’t think there’s anything we’ll not keep,” Jennifer says.

Duane St. Clair is a contributing writer for Westerville Magazine.


BONUS:Redecorating costs

 
Furniture: $393
Bedding and Headboard: $437
Lighting: $158
Window Treatments: $165
Rugs and Accessories: $302
Paint: $37
TOTAL: $1,492**

**Figure rounded up to the nearest dollar.